IDRC - Celebrating 25 Years

1993 - 2018

Supports for complying with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)

How do I make my web site accessible? How do I make my office documents accessible? How do I make information available in alternative formats? Businesses and organizations read our AODA Help.

Friday October 18 save it to your calendar! Register (free!) for DEEP conference 2019. This year we will be discuss… https://t.co/Jym2NOUJ8G
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FluidProject The @idrc_ocadu's @colinbdclark talking inclusive environments and co-design earlier this year at the Coleman Insti… https://t.co/hXo23gJ8wg
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PLEASE NOTE: SNOW workshops are suspended until further notice. Funding cuts by the current provincial government a… https://t.co/4M6K4m2NT5
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Latest News

Announcing Project We Count

September 4 2019, OCAD University, Toronto - The IDRC is pleased to share that the Government of Canada, through the Accessible Technology Program, has announced funding for Project We Count.

Project We Count will address barriers to participation and employment for persons with
disabilities in the rapidly growing data economy. At the same time, the project will tackle bias and
exclusion of persons with disabilities in data systems and ensure that these systems (including
artificial intelligence, smart technologies, data-driven decision making and data analytics)
recognize, understand and serve people with disabilities by creating innovative machine learning
strategies and addressing data gaps. Project We Count will increase knowledge, establish skills,
develop inclusive data tools and create a forum whereby the Canadian disability community can
help shape the rapidly evolving data economy in more inclusive directions.

New employment opportunities at the IDRC (Updated)

July 26, 2019, OCAD University, Toronto - Are you interested in AI fairness and innovative machine learning? Would you like to develop new decision processes that are able to address changing contexts and unexpected scenarios? We are looking for developers, designers and data scientists to join our team to create machine learning models that can serve more than the majority or the average. If you are interested please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Update Aug 13, 2019: Added Inclusive Designer position. Closed developer positions.

Update Sep 6, 2019: All positions are now closed.

Featured Projects

Center on Inclusive Software for Learning (CISL)

This project brings inclusive open education tools and knowledge from the FLOE Project to the newly-announced Center on Inclusive Software for Learning (CISL). Led by CAST, CISL will support the development of an open-source software suite, industry guidelines and supporting research to ensure K-12 students get engaging personalized learning through Open Education Resources. Funded by the the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs.

Platform Co-op

In collaboration with the Platform Co-op movement (https://platform.coop/), the goal of the project is to realize the full aspirations of Platform for Economic Inclusion. Together with Trebor Scholtz, the Platform Co-op Consortium and the New School, the IDRC will be developing a Platform Co-op Development Kit with the support of several foundations. The first implementation will be focused on care: childcare, attendant care and eldercare. “The work that makes all other work possible."

Coding to Learn and Create

The IDRC and Bridges Canada will collaborate on the Coding to Learn and Create project, that will develop new inclusive educational coding tools that will support the participation of students with complex learning needs, and will share critically-needed teaching resources and strategies to help educators teach more inclusively.

Visit the Coding to Learn and Create website (https://www.codelearncreate.org/) to learn more and get involved.

FLOE

FLOE provides the resources needed to enable inclusive access to personally relevant, engaging learning opportunities for the full diversity of learners and content producers. Through the Open Education Resources community, FLOE makes tools available that transform, augment, and personalize the learning experience.

Automated Personalization Computer Project (APCP) and Morphic

APCP (funded by Technology Innovation Program of the Rehabilitation Services Administration, U.S. Deptartment of Education) - In collaboration with the American Job Centers, community colleges, and high schools, the APCP project will help take the auto-personalization function of the Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII) from the proof-of-concept stage through to a high-quality, broadly-used open source implementation. Led by the TRACE Center at the University of Maryland, the IDRC is contributing to the project’s overall software architecture, security and web personalization infrastructure, and individualized metrics-gathering tools.

Morphic makes it easy to discover and adjust settings and features that can make the computer easier to use. By saving your settings in a secure and private cloud vault, Morphic can instantly apply them when you log in to any Morphic-enabled computer. For more information see the Morphic website (https://morphic.world/).

Cloud4all

Cloud4all is an European Commission FP7 grant that will develop key parts of the Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII), building the knowledge base and algorithms needed and evaluating the ability of the concept to work across platforms, technologies and applications.

Inclusive Cities

Inclusive Cities - the IDRC is working with the Sidewalk Toronto team to help create accessibility and inclusion principles. Sidewalk Toronto is a joint effort between Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs and Waterfront Toronto to use smart technology and new construction techniques to develop a piece of land on Toronto’s eastern waterfront.